Friends of Dance Mini-Grant Recipient: Izzy Lefand

  Dance major Izzy Lefand received a Friends of Dance mini-grant to attend the staibdance Root Theory Winter Workshop in January 2026. Read on for a reflection of her experience. 

Through an Emory Friends of Dance Mini-Grant, I was able to attend the staibdance Root Theory Winter Workshop over the January 2026 winter break.

The nature of Root Theory followed the exploration of movement and its rawness. Throughout the weekend, the classes explored an animalistic structure of movement. This was through learning material from staibdance’s between dog and wolf, which highlighted predator and prey relationships of movement. Many of the prompts involved being both the hunter and the hunted at different moments in the material.

Since coming to college, I have made it a goal of mine to watch more dance in order to expand my own ideas of movement, so being able to watch others in a classroom setting formed this natural environment of learning and creativity. With several of the attendees being professional dancers in the industry, there was a new spin to the running of the classes. I am used to attending conventions, but most of them were in high school, with many attendees being high school students who are focused on only learning new material. For these workshops, we would learn combinations of movements in many different styles, but Root Theory, alternatively, was focused on fostering personal creativity.

Much of the material also had a focus on sound, and human reactions to moving. One class was an acting seminar to increase comfort in unusual facial expressions and gut reactions in sound. Personally, I have found sound in dance to be very effective when it is a genuine reaction, so during this class, I tried to implement a raw and realistic approach.

Outside of learning material, there were classes to promote individualized movement creation and partnership through contact improvisation. The creation of choreography is normally something I generate in my own space, so creating with others in the area with me formed a unified experience to create without judgment. With something like contact improvisation specifically, there is a level of vulnerability that is comforting in a space with unfamiliar people.

These practices opened my modes of creation and relieved some of the pressure around the art world. Everyone kept similar explorative aspects that made moving with each other a genuine and supportive experience.

Thank you for sharing this reflection Izzy! Click here to learn more about The Friends of Dance at Emory.

Emory Dance Company Choreographer: Mara Mandradjieff

 

The Fall 2025 Emory Dance Company Concert November 19-22 features new work by faculty members Gregory Catellier, Kristin O'Neal, and Mara Mandradjieff, Emory Arts Fellow Madelyn Sher, and guest artists Meg Gourley and Andre Lumpkin. 

Read below as faculty member Mara Mandradjieff shares more about her work and process. 

 

Conceptually, my piece is inspired by 18^th-century European masquerades as a possible space for women to express their desires and social agency. More broadly, though, I'm curious about constructed realms of escapism that societies create for release…. the carnival, the masquerade, the cabaret, the club…. and particularly their connection to notions of queerness. Thanks to theorists Mikhail Bakhtin and Mary Russo, I’ve been fascinated by the carnivalesque and the grotesque since undergrad, especially how these concepts relate to the (female) body and socio-political subversion. Eventually, this led me to literary scholar Terry Castle’s research on English masquerades, which serves as the textual foundation for my current work.  

 

I also wanted to play around with the idea of tight spaces, literally and metaphorically speaking. When do we normally find ourselves in tight spaces, and how do we respond to them? With this in mind, the audience might notice ways the dancers’ bodies generate and move through tight spaces, as well as how spotlights create new, smaller rooms on stage.

 

As a choreographer and scholar, I’m always excited by the use of objects on stage and the nature of these items as unruly agents; you never quite know how they will respond in the moment. I’m especially invested in exploring the artistic potential of pointe shoes—their materiality, symbolism, and inescapable relationship with the ballerina. This work focuses on pointe shoe ribbons to create new lines, to confine and restrict, to connect bodies and transform them into one moving entity, and to allude to bondage, as well as theories around the fetishization of pointe shoes. For example, during my piece, one dancer burns and feeds ribbons to another performer. In addition to the more obvious connotations relating to what is happening on stage, this moment references two different events in ballet history during the 19^th century: one, numerous ballerinas burned to death because of stage accidents in candle-lit theaters, and two, legend has it that a group of fans once cooked and ate Marie Taglioni’s pointe shoes.

  

In the beginning of the semester, I had my cast read the introduction to Castle’s Masquerade and Civilization: The Carnivalesque in Eighteenth-Century English Culture and Fiction (1986, Stanford University Press) and find popular films and paintings of masquerade parties. We talked about the materials, and the dancers individually (and then in small groups) generated a movement response to them. Later, I had the dancers watch and discuss different contemporary ballets that were relevant to our work regarding object-use, movement dynamics, or thematic content. People tend to be more familiar with classical ballets, so I wanted to expose the dancers to this other lineage for inspiration. 

 

I hope the audience is intrigued by the work and that they find moments of connection within the intentionally designed disconnection, or as Castle explains, “The mask mystified the object of desire; it symbolized the absence or withholding of connection. It was a kind of stylized evasion—a formal sign of resistance to full human exchange. Not surprisingly, masked individuals were seen as fetishistically exciting” (1986, 39).

Thank you Mara! Click here to purchase tickets for the EDC Fall Concert and peruse the links below to take a look into the rehearsal process of each of the works being presented next week.

• Mara Mandradjieff's work: Fo(u)r Tight Spaces
• Greg Catellier & Kristin O'Neal's work: Fault Line
• Madelyn Sher's work: Match
• Andre Lumpkin's work: What is Love
• Meg Gourley's work: Insatiable Likeness

From Italy to New York: Scholarship Recipients Reflect on Transformative Summers

Photo Courtesy of Alice Stern

Each year, the Emory Friends of Dance Summer Scholarship program supports dance majors and minors in pursuing intensive study opportunities across the globe. This past summer, three students traveled to world-renowned programs that expanded their artistry and reaffirmed their passion for movement. Read on to learn more about their experiences!

Nadia Piecyk
Doug Varone and Dancers (DOVA) Winter Intensive
New York City, New York

At an experience she describes as "nothing short of transformative", Nadia shares,  "I could never have imagined how much I would grow - in movement, mindset, and artistry.”

Learning solos from Rise, Lux, and a Chopin Nocturne taught by Varone himself, she reflected on the power of presence: “Doug advised us to let go of any need to perform the dance and instead to just exist in the space. I felt deeply connected to my body, the room, and the authenticity of movement.” She returns to Emory with renewed clarity and gratitude: “The conversations I had throughout the week brought me greater clarity about my future in dance. I’m so grateful to Friends of Dance for supporting my continued education.”

Emmaline Lim

staibdance Summer Intensive

Sorrento, Italy

For Emma, the staibdance Summer Intensive “profoundly expanded my understanding of dance and my own artistry.”

Unlike the ballet-centered programs she’d known, this one invited risk, collaboration, and experimentation. “I was pushed out of my comfort zone into a diverse range of movement styles - from West African fusion with Monique Jonas to the instinctual flow of Gaga with Gavriel Spitzer,” she said. “I learned to value sensation over perfection.”

Emma shared that her biggest revelation was shifting her relationship to performance: “Instead of asking what the audience was supposed to understand, I asked, how does this feel in my body? That shift allowed me to find deeper honesty in my dancing."

Alice Stern
American Dance Festival
Durham, North Carolina

Immersed in a legacy of modern and contemporary dance, Alice found herself both absorbing and contributing to a global movement community while at ADF.

“I studied the codified techniques of the modern legends like Limón and Dunham,” Alice shared, “and explored movement drawn from African roots - engaging with it as a study of a diaspora.” Through that process, she discovered what she calls “rooted movement, the concept that styles retain their source, and through recognizing that, our movement can deepen in intention.”

Returning to Emory, Alice carries with her a deepened understanding of the interconnectedness of movement and meaning: “I reenter the Emory dance community as a much more informed dancer with artistic autonomy and a more mature sense of craft.”

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Thank you to Nadia, Emma and Alice for sharing your summer stories! 

Click to learn more about the Emory Friends of Dance.

Emory Dance Company: Meet the Program B Choreographers

Photo by Lori Teague

The Spring 2025 Emory Dance Company Concert April 16-19 features new work by students in our Choreography II course. Read about the choreographers in Program B, April 17 & 19, below.

Choreographer: Pia Lopez-Morton

About the work: I am exploring the concept of how people in our lives impact us. I find it very thought provoking how we are always surrounded by people whose stories we will never know but only see glimpses of and how much our families, friends, or mentors end up contributing to who we are. 

Choreographer: Nadia Piecyk

About the work: The inspiration for my piece stems from my personal and familial experiences living with rare and invisible disabilities. Some of the themes I’m curious about are the cohabitation of the self and the disability, the interplay between spontaneity and hyper-attunement, and the constant tradeoff between the nurtured and the nurturer.

Choreographer: Jaeda Samuel-McKnight

About the work: My piece explores the interconnected themes of sensuality, sexuality, and spirituality. It seeks to challenge societal constructs—such as the stigma around desire and the notion that sexuality and purity are mutually exclusive—while embracing the empowerment that comes from fully embodying one’s sensual and spiritual self. The work also reframes sensual and sexual expression as acts of worship, allowing for a deeper spiritual connection through the body.  

Choreographer: Samantha Stevens

About the work: My work aims to invite the audience into the inner worlds of the dancers by showcasing moments of introspection on each dancer's journey toward self-discovery and confidence. It will highlight the points where individual paths intersect, reflecting how personal growth can enrich relationships with others and foster a sense of community.

Choreographer: Justyna Tarniowa

About the work: My piece is exploring themes of fright, the uncanny, discomfort, and contrast. I am drawing inspiration from thriller novels and their most common tropes. I want the audience to feel a little uneasy, to sense the tension still ruminating in the room after the piece is over, finding both comfort and discomfort.  

Choreographer: Max Walkow

About the work: My work explores themes of potentiality and self-actualization. I want the audience to feel the way I first felt watching some of my favorite films which include Midsommar, Fight Club, and Saltburn.

Thank you choreographers! Click here to learn more about Emory Dance.

Emory Dance Company: Meet the Program A Choreographers

 

Photo by Lori Teague

The Spring 2025 Emory Dance Company Concert April 16-19 features new work by students in our Choreography II course. Read about the choreographers in Program A, April 16 & 18, below.

Choreographer: Selah Curran-Blakely

About the work: My work delves into the journey of spirituality and the inner conflict we go through with morality, love and lust, and self-growth. Through a fusion of modern, contemporary, and sultry movement styles, combined with jazz, bossa-nova, and alternative music, the piece explores the beauty and tension of spiritual warfare and transformation. 

Choreographer: Gab Crum

About the work: At its core, my work serves as a love letter to the people, the experiences, and the opportunities that have brought me to this chapter of my life. I want people to see and resonate with the love and care woven throughout the work.

Choreographer: Genevieve DeBell

About the work: With my work, I hope to provide a glimpse into the various emotions associated with the work of self-improvement. I hope that the joy, euphoria, destruction, and obsession that are tied to these behaviors are evident through the choreography.  

Choreographer: Deena Goodgold

About the work: I am exploring themes of competition and survival in nature and am exploring mechanisms humans have evolved to survive. I hope to highlight each dancer's individuality and demonstrate the ways each person interacts with another. I want to create a cohesive work that transports the audience into the world of the piece.

Choreographer: Lydia Hamby

About the work: Artistically, I aim to create a piece that fluidly explores the impermanence of relationships while capturing both the tension and beauty in letting go. Through the interplay of music, movement, and dancer interactions, I hope to craft a work that is both visually compelling and emotionally resonant, allowing audiences to engage with the themes of nostalgia, unity, and remembrance.

Choreographer: Brandon Herron 

About the work: I am exploring themes of finding one’s self - that the outcome that everyone desires in life is less important than the journey and appreciating that. We form relationships with so many people throughout our lives; those some closer than others. For those that go, it’s sometimes easy to not understand why they left, but it is important to appreciate that it happened rather than be sad it’s over. 

Thank you choreographers! Tickets for the Emory Dance Company Spring 2025 Concert are on sale now. Click here to purchase yours!

Queer B/being: An Honors Thesis Concert by Ilo Elder

 On March 28 & 29 at 7:30pm, dance major Ilo Elder will present an Honors Thesis Concert entitled Queer B/being. This is a free event and registration is not required. Read below to learn about Ilo's research and creative process. 

Queer B/being is inspired by my research into the liberatory power of Afro-diasporic dance. It takes a deep dive into house dance foundational techniques, namely what I have identified as footwork, groove, rhythm, and freestyle. Similar to how phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics can coalesce to create complex messages, Queer B/being explores how these foundational techniques coalesce to create and recreate a complex being, a queer being. 

This piece has what I like to call a resistant undertone and cosmic overtone. I wanted to create a world where Black bodies can embellish in Black queer aesthetics such as unrepressed sensuality, transformative physicality, and moving from the inside out. The cosmos shines through the costumes, lighting, and soundscape, all inspired by my house club experiences in Chicago. I am very interested in how I can replicate the sensation of being in a trance that house dancers and club patrons tend to experience. 

Since my freshman year, I knew that I wanted to do an honors project; it was just a matter of what it would be about. Before my junior year, I had a revelatory experience at the Bates Dance Festival - my instructor, Duane Lee Holland Jr, sat us down and passionately expressed the importance of Black American Dance, including its perceived threat to Western oppression. As someone trained in multiple Afro-diasporic forms, I had never had someone blatantly point out its resistive power. It felt like a fire was lit within me from a place of pride and critical curiosity. My research narrowed to the technique of house dance and its implications on resistance to Western oppression.

My experience as a researcher and dancer has taught me that there is more beyond the concrete and tangible. There is so much in the imagined and sensational; it teaches us beyond what the former can name. In a world where the latter is continuously threatened, banned, and marginalized, the understanding and preservation of such practices are increasingly important.Thus, it must always be shared both in process with my cast and in witnessing through the audience. 

 

Thank you Ilo! Please join us on March 28 & 29 at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts for Queer B/being.

Emory Dance Company Choreographer: Julio Medina

 

The Fall 2024 Emory Dance Company Concert features new work by faculty members Julio Medina, George Staib, Lori Teague and guest artists Doug Varone and Danielle Swatzie. 

Read about faculty member Julio Medina's work and process below! 

As a cast, we are exploring themes of resilience, resistance, and restoration. In particular, we are responding to and taking inspiration from Angela Davis’ “Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric”.  

 

When collaborating with the dancers, I give various improvisational and choreographic tasks for creation, and then we edit. I am also very transparent with the ideas generating in my mind, so the dancers have context and a goal while they create. Sometimes they create individually, in duets, or trios. I’m working with a quartet, and it’s been a really fun and intimate creative process. 

 

I’d like for the audience to consider the term “immigrant”. I think the word itself, and the rhetoric around it, is very divisive, and supports a racist, hierarchical system that’s detrimental to our health and the advancement of the human race. I would like the audience to reconsider that word, how they use it, and how it can be used to dehumanize.  

Thank you Julio! Tickets for the Emory Dance Company Fall 2024 Concert are on sale now. Click here to purchase them now.